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P10 vs P6 vs P5 vs....?

Thinking about building P10 / (other pitch) array of panels, maybe like a 10 x 20 array; mostly as learning exercise, could be used for Christmas, might be used for car show-who knows? Maybe even make it easy to assemble, portable; IN any case...

Looking for current trend in panels. I see pitch sizes from p10 down to p4. trying to decide current trend, pricing and bang for buck. ON rays site, appears that https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3266...0-8452f2974c78 seems to be best use of cash. I am presuming all will NOT be waterproof in any way and I must deal with method of enclosing and weatherproofing on my own.

also. what is max array a beaglebone can handle with decent refresh rate? ALso, my array size is probably in error, usually displays are 3x4 / 6x8 multiples;

Re: P10 vs P6 vs P5 vs....?

I'm switching from a 20 panel (4 wide x 5 high) of P10s and moving to P5s. According to Dan Kulp, who is one of the software writers/coders for FPP, I can use all 8 outputs of the BBB on my 20 panels and shouldn't have any stutter, lag, etc. I'll have to do at least 2 panels on every output, and have 3 panels using 4 of the outputs, but he's sure it will work. Once you start getting above that number though, I think you need to switch out to the Colorlight boards. There's an entire topic devoted to that over on the Falcon Christmas site - just look under FPP Controller.

Just for reference, I used only 4 of the outputs for my P10 panel this last holiday season and had no issues at all. However, moving from a P10 to a P5 *quadruples* the data, so you need hardware more devoted if you go with P6/5/4 panels vs P10. Also, the viewing distance plays into which panel will work for you. My house sits just 15-20 ft from the street and I didn't like how 'pixelated' my panel looked, which is why I'm switching out to P5s.

Re: P10 vs P6 vs P5 vs....?

On the BBB with P5's, things generally look "perfect" with 4 panels per output for all panels. SOME panels will look great with 5 panels per output, but others may require dropping to 7 or 6 bit color to keep them from flickering. I don't recommend going above 5 per output with P5's.

A 10x20 matrix of P5's is HUGE. You do realize that is over 1.2 MILLION channels. I'm not even sure the colorlight stuff will handle that many as you would need to daisy chain 3 cards (I think) and FPP only allows 2 at this point.

As an FYI: FPP 2.7 cannot even handle that many channels (maxes at 1M). 2.8 will be able to (max at 4M).